Louis C.K.: Live at the Comedy Store

This stand-up comedy starts with Jay London as an opening act. It's good that it was very short because I didn't get his sense of humor. The main act is of course Louis C.K., and after watching his series (that I enjoyed in the beginning but that I found quite boring at the end) I was curious how his stand-up comedy would be. I just watched a Jimmy Carr show before where there were alot of good jokes and laughter so to top that Louis C.K. had to be at his best. Louis C.K. is just completely different as he just tells stories that make not much sense and often there is just no ending to his stories. He's hopping from one story to another without finishing with a good pun. As for the jokes you won't get much of those. I admit I laughed a couple of times, maybe three or four times, but compared to other stand-up comedians like Jimmy Carr, Frankie Boyle, Ricky Gervais, or Jim Jefferies, Louis C.K. is just a little fish. Not a show I will watch again.

We rejoiced to see this yesterday, a warm spring night in an empty house with the doors open and this crackling man letting loose on TV about witches, rat sex and two babies on a plane - among the most memorable moments. I was filled with appreciation of him again.

Louis CK in top form means a sage of sorts gets up on stage to expound a hilarious dharma. What is life? It's putting food in here, sh- tting out the other end. What is being a grown man? It's thinking there's a witch in the kitchen, it's calling 911 to get a bat out of your house.

This is one thing I like about him, he doesn't only crack wise, he cracks things wisely. This is in the way he presents and surrounds a self in the narration, so not an intellectual - Senfield - smugly pointing at human fallacy from above but someone for whom life is a joke that happens to, makes himself to be disgusting for us, becomes the guy afraid of a bat, tiredness is there, exasperation, all with self-effacing like an 18 year old mystified to be 40 with kids.

And he's a jazzist of narration. Humor works in profound ways so much akin to illogical jazz. It's all about surprise, dismantling, abrupt leaps in narrative, rearranging walls so you can find unexpected openings to views. Making reality fluid again. Laughter cleanses of course but even a fart joke can do some of these things. The other night I was regaled with Julianne Moore farting in the bathroom in Maps to the Stars, the whole amusement was this unexpected view.

Louis' scatological outbursts, some of them work for me, some don't. It's all part of the after-school reality he creates in which he can fret about grownup stuff. His ability though to wander visually in the space of narration just explodes in this show - he conjures crows flying while he cums, an old crone cackling some omen about the baby to be born - it's all we have just said about abrupt leaps done like a master editor splices views. It's not some perfection of what he does as much as portals it opens.

Louis CK seems to be a guy doing what he wants and enjoying himself while he does it. His successfully show on FX gives him full creative control, and while it at times is impossible to pigeonhole as to what it is, it remains an engaging show even if at times it is free of any laughs. How he delivers his comedy specials is another reason to like and support him in what he is doing – with this very recent performance being a typical example. Self-released via his website, a friendly email invites you to download directly, with no limit on where you can go with the file you download – no time limit to watch it, no restriction on watching it only on the device you bought it on, no having to log in to watch it, and no meaningful restriction on being able to watch it – great for those of us with a couple of devices that we watch things on. To add to this, he continues to sell these hour-long shows for $5, which at the minute is £3.30 – and even without examples to illustrate how little that is, it is nothing. So as a business model, it is one I want to support so I do.

As a result I tend to not bother checking reviews of his show before I get them, because I tend to enjoy them, and also I am as much making a statement with my money as I am buying a product. Presented in a very high resolution file, the image was incredibly sharp – whether seeing individual beads of sweat on Louis' head is your thing or not, the quality is very good. The setting is also quite intimate – not quite the basement club in his show Louie, but still nicely close and with a better connection than a big theatre. The material is mostly funny, although not fantastically so – I laughed pretty frequently at most bits, with only some aspects falling a bit flat (although unfortunately the last sequence was one of these). The subjects are your standard ones of getting older, sexual material, parenting, flying, and other such things; although familiar he does bring to these well.

As a fan of the awkward observational style of his current show, I will be honest I say that, while the laughs were good, I did want to be challenged a bit more – or at least feel uncomfortable – and the show had more scope for that instead of miming sex acts quite as much as he did. As a stage presence CK is great though – an unassuming looking guy but one very comfortable in front of an audience, and that comes across on the screen too. Live at the Comedy Store may not be one of his better routines, however it is still funny, and at the very low price (without restrictions) it is more than worth paying the money to give it a go.

Film: Louis CK/ Live At The Comedy Store (stand-up special)

8/10 (🐷🐷🐷🐷🐷🐷🐷🐷/10 experimental piglets)

I'm a huge fan of his. To me, there's no Louis CK special that is worse than a '7'. This one, while not my absolute favorite, is still one of his best because of the experimental nature. It's something that if other comics could do, they certainly would edit it before putting out to the public. It's not as polished as the other one. He goes off on some crazy tangents and riffs that one might argue as lengthy, or unnecessary or pretentious. Not Louie though! It's live and in the moment!

8/10 for entertainment value... But 10/10 for the artistry of it !

At just over an hour long, this is a tidy addition to the work of MR C.K. Standard setup, Louis, a stage & a microphone, performing at the Comedy Store. As usual, his routine covers the usual Louis topics, his kids, his divorce, and how he perceives people & everyday life.

The show flows well, and contains more than enough quality material to keep you smiling & laughing almost the entire time. Particular favourites come in the form of a witch, a bat & couple of horny rats !! Well worth an hour of anyones time.

8/10

Sausage1